By Willemien Truter on Monday, 06 October 2014
Category: Willemien Truter

Adventure in Istanbul

Once again I realised that God blessed us with accommodation near the tourist attraction sites. Every country. This time we stayed about 300m from the Hagia Sofia. This is really close to The Blue Mosque. During our time here we were completely tourists. Could not go into all the tourist places, but we could go to them and take a photo just to say that we were there. That is my goal if it is not possible to enter. We had amazing times in the Word of God and enjoyed ourselves in presenting scriptures to each other in creative ways. I learned in 2 John and 3 John that truth can only be discovered not taught. One have to walk in truth and experience it, none can explain truth to you. I once again learned that I like doing adventurous stuff, not the “throw yourself off the bridge”- type, though. Coetzee, Miga and I went to the Blue Mosque one day. We stood in the line, got our funny clothes and went into this place of prayer. What a beautiful sight! The inside of this mosque is magnificent. We looked ridiculous and felt funny in the garments we had to where, but that totally made our experience even more worth it. Coetzee was tired so he returned to our hostel. Miga and I continued on our search for Turkish Delight. Did not find any, but we found an old wall (part of the old castle) with holes in it. Immediately both of us wanted to enter this wall. In my life I cannot remember when last I was so scared of the dark. The wall is like a tunnel, sort of underground, but dark. Miga pulled out his flashlight and walk into the darkness. God used that fear and darkness to remind me of a message He taught me a few times earlier. I should not look around into the darkness, it will frighten me and take my eyes off of God (the light). Instead I should focus on the light in front of me and within me to guide me and take away the darkness. “Darkness cannot be measured, but light can” as Rick Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life. For the first time in my life I walked on train tracks. As we got out of the tunnel at the other side, we walked unto train tracks. We tried to get to the Hagia Sofia again, but instead we walked the wrong direction. So two officers noticed us and laughed as Miga tried to explain where we are going. Luckily they guided us to the right direction. We ended up in the gardens of the Palace. BEAUTIFUL! End of Turkey and a new adventure awaits.
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